"They're about taking out the entire Iranian military." This particular spine-chiller comes from Alexis Debat, excitingly identified as "director of terrorism and national security" at the Nixon Center. According to Debat, the big takeout is what the US Air Force has in store, as opposed to mere "pinprick strikes" against the infamous nuclear facilities.

Predicting imminent war on Iran has been one of the top two items in Cassandra's repertory for a couple of years now, rivaled only by global warming as a surefire way to sell newspapers and boost website hits.

Debat was re-roasting that well-scorched chestnut, the "shock and awe" strategy, whereby--back in March 2003--the Air Force proposed to reduce Iraq's entire military to smoldering ruins. "Shock and awe" was a resounding failure, like all such pledges by Air Force commanders to destroy the enemy's military since the birth of aerial bombardments nearly a century ago. Such failures have never stopped the Air Force from trying once again, and there are no doubt vivid attack plans now circulating in government.

Subscriber Login

User Name

Password

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 75 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.